Suspension-railway.



0.709,343. wwwa4 sept. le, i902.

A. H. lmnmaw'.' susPENsfl'on RAILWAY.

(Application mea gran. a, 1902.)

l(Mailman.) 4 sheets-sheet -L No. 709,343. v Patented sept'. I6, 1902.

` A. H. MAYHEw.

SUSPENSION RAILWAY.

" (Applcgtion led Jan. 6, 1902.)-

(No Model.) 4 Sheet`$heot 2.

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' No. 7tlg-,343.

Patented sept. |6|9o2..

A. H. MAYHEW. SUSPENSION RAILWAY. (gppuc'aeion xea- Jan.. a. 1902.)

4 Sheets-SMM 3.

(No Model.)

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,No.709,343. Patented Sept. I6, |902'. A. H. MAYH|`-:w.

SUSPENSION nAlL'wAv.

(Application ma Jan. e, 1962.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

' my S; M/` o PATENT EEicE.

, ALFRED HENRY MAYHEW, OF BALHAM, ENGLAND.

SUSPENSION-RAILWAY.

lklElJllFCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 709,343, datedSeptember 16, 1902v l Application filed January 6. 1902. Serial No.88,646. (No model.)

`To @ZZ whom; it magical/067cm i Be it known `that 1, ALFRED HENRY MAY-HE'W, a subject of the King of `Great Britain, and a resident of Balham,in the county of Surrey,`England, have invented certain new and usefulImprovementsin Suspension-Rail ways, (for which I have obtained a patentin Great Britain, No.13,627, dated July 4t, 1901,) of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention has for its object a new or improved suspension-railwayformed by a train suspended from wires or ropes running Y over lowerwiresor ropes and guided or held in position byother wires or ropes, thewhole railway upheld by towers or other suitable structures or bvbrackets or the like in tube or underground railways.

The railway consists of, first, three or more upper rails of wire, rope,or like material, to

`which are attached by wheels, rings, or other contrivances andtherefrom` suspended the y car or cars of the train, which may or maynot have an engineor motor attached and .suspended in like manner;second, the suspended train to rest upon and run or be drawn over two ormore rails of wire, rope,` or like material, and, if necessary, to beguided or held in position by other wires or ropes, to which the trainmay also be attached by wheels or ringsl For purposes of illustration Iwill refer to the annexed drawings, whichmerely show the principle ofmyinvention without attempting to illustrate the necessary engineeringdetails. i f

Figure 1 is an elevation of my suspensione railway, two supports onlybeing shown; Fig.

. i supports or structures.

In Figs. l and 2 I have illustrated the employment of five wires a.These wires are secured to and supported at convenient distances `by'structures of a suitable nature, (illustrated by the supports b, Figl.)At the desired points along the line these structures are provided witha lift or any suitable means of elevation to the platform on a levelwith the cables. The car c is provided with the wheels or groovedrollers d, which run upon the wires d, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. Thesewheels are carried by strong frames e, into which the car is built. Inthe illustration two of these frames only are shown; but I may employany number that the length of the car may require. .w Referring to Fig.5, frepresents platforms which are held by the structures at the point72, the parts thereof being pivoted together at the points t. e

As the car approaches the point j the wire cables will slightly sag, asshown in Fig. l,

and in ordelfto overcome the strain on the lengthof cable nearest thesupportI employ for each cable the hinged platform, as above described,these platforms being carried by the structure or support b. As the carapproaches the structure or support b it will run onto the hingedplatforms f. By this means the strain on the short length of cablebetween the car and support is removedfrom the cable, and also the joltor jerk which would occur in passing the support is avoided.

g represents supporting-rods attached to the pivoted platform and beingforked at their other end, so as to engage around orwith the support bin the desired manner, so that when the weight of the car is at thepoint y" the outer end of the pivoted platform will be at its lowestpoint, at which position the forked end of the supports will engage onthe structure b, so taking the weight of the car and platform off thecable. If desired, I may also provide a second platformf on the end ofthe pivoted platform, so as -to prevent any jolting of the car inrunning onto the main hinged platform f, as it would be likely to dowhen the car is very heavy. i

Any convenient means of `propulsion may be employed for the cars, suchas overhead electric system, inwhich case the top cable may carry thecurrent, or I may employ a separate conducting-wire for this purpose. Ialso provide a means whereby should one of the cables break it will beprevented from IOO falling to the ground, this being illustrated inFigs. l and 5.

k is a loose cord or rope connected to the structure atl and runningunderneath the cable and being connected thereto in any suitable mannerat a number of points m. By`

this means it Will be seen that if a cable should break it would besupported by this cord or rope 7c.

Referring to Fig. 6, in this vieWI have shown my invention applied tounderground or tube railways. The cables are supported by the brackets nor any other suitable means at convenient distances, any curves beingnavigated by the employment of platforms or railsj, which may be curved,of the desired length, and may be suitably supported.

Having thus ldescribed my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. ,In suspension-railways in combination,

three or more wire cables or ropes, secured to structures or supportsonto which the carsy run When passing said structures or supports saidhinged platforms being supported by slidingsupports, a loose rope orcord running underneath each cable or rope, substantially as describedand illustrated herein.

2. In tube or underground railways in combination, three or morewirecables or ropes, secured to a series of brackets or supports, a carbuilt into strong frames carrying grooved wheels or pulleys which run onaforesaid Wire cables or ropes, hinged platforms carried by saidbrackets or supports onto which the cars run when passing said bracketsor supports, said hinged platforms being supported in lower position ina suitable manner, a loose rope or cord running underneath each cable orrope, curved rails or platforms at desired points onto which the carsrun 'from the cables, substantially as described and illustratedherein.l

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this9th day of December, 1901.

A ALFRED HENRY MAYl-IEIV.

Witnesses:

JOHN NEWTON, CHARLES H. BRIGGS.

